Some financial transaction instruments, such as credit cards and loyalty program cards, are capable of accessing information related to multiple accounts. For example, a credit card may be able to access membership data associated with both a credit card account and a wholesale purchase club account. These financial transaction instruments generally include one or more applications for selecting and then securely utilizing a sub-set of specified account information. However, the systems associated with these cards typically delegate the loading of these applications and management of the related data sets to third parties on behalf of both the issuer of the instrument and “application tenants” residing on the issuer's financial transaction instruments. Thus, traditional solutions leave a disproportional burden on the issuer and/or the delegated third party in terms of managing accounts on a financial transaction instrument. Managing data associated with a credit card via the issuer/third party may involve time consuming steps such as requesting permission to manage data, conforming to data standard formats, and implementing changes.
This management of data and accounts may occur over the life of the account. In general, accounts associated with a financial transaction instrument have a life cycle. For example, an account associated with a credit card is typically created concurrent with the issuance of the card. The account may later be terminated for a variety of reasons. For example, an account may be terminated when the card associated with the account is unused for an extended period of time. Account termination may occur through static expiration dates, or as a consequence of a security related event, such as, for example, when a card is reported stolen. Furthermore, during the “life” of an account, changes may be made to the account. These changes may include, for example, upgrades in functionality related to an existing account, or the addition of a second application that is configured to function separately or in conjunction with another application associated with the first account. With respect to changing account information that is stored in association with a financial transaction instrument, an issuer will typically discard the old card and to issue a new card that includes the updated information. However, the replacement of financial transaction cards with updated transaction cards may include various procedures and requirements that may last several days or weeks.
In some instances, financial transaction instruments may be updated without the issuing of a new physical consumer device. In general, however, the issuer is involved in this process. The issuer may be involved, for example, by verifying compatibility of a proposed new application, checking conformance of the data to the issuer's standard formatting and size guidelines, and implementing the changes. Moreover, application tenants will generally first enter into contractual agreements with the issuer, or third party delegate of the issuer, before its application is added to the financial transaction instrument. Thus, additional burdens are placed on merchants or individuals who desire to add unique data sets to a financial transaction instrument.
That being said, the ability for multiple owners of data sets to independently and efficiently manage data sets and applications associated with a financial transaction instrument does not exist. Thus, a need exists for a system that can facilitate independent management of account information associated with financial transaction instruments. Additionally, a need exists for a system that can facilitate independent management of account information on a financial transaction instrument. Furthermore, a need exists for a system whereby the “life” of a financial transaction instrument is not necessarily related to the “life” of an account on that instrument and where the life of one account on that instrument is not necessarily related to the life of another account on that instrument.